Closure for truck tanks and the like



4 Sheets-Sheet l C. H. SCOTT ET AL CLOSURE FOR TRUCK TANKS AND THE LIKEFiled May 25 1940 Sept. 28, 1943.

NVENTORS C'flEL VLE/K 800 77' PAUL H. SCOTT m ATTORNEY 'Sept. 28, 1943.c, H, SCOTT ET AL CLOSURE FOR TRUCK TANKS AND THE LIKE Filed May 25,1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS E $0077 BY PLWL scorr M ATTORNEY Sept.28, 1943. c. H. SCOTT ET AL CLOSURE FOR TRUCK TANKS AND THE LIKE 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Fil ed May 25. 1940 INVENTORS @1464 m5. 500 T7 PAN/L H.SCOTT BY 4 ATTORNEY Sept. 28, 1943. c. H. sco'r'r ET AL 2,330,247.

' CLOSURE FOR TRUCK TANKS AND THE LIKE Filed May 25. 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet4 A5 a; w I 5/ 52 I 5/ I I 52 IN V EN TORS' 624x21. YLE H. SCOTT Pfil/LH. 560 77' ZKQHHTORNE? Patented Sept. 28, 1943 on l- "FE o- 'STA'FESATENT F are 2,336,247 CIZGSURE FOR TRUCK TANKS AND THE LIKE CarlyleH.Scott, Forest Hills. andPaul'H. Scott,

Flushing, N. Y assignors' to; The Safety Ta'fik' Truck Corporation, N ewYork; N. Y., a col-poration-of New York AmplicationMayflS, unwse-intno;$317,270 7 ol'aims. (01. 292 3 36) This invention relates"generally to manhole closuries for tanks of. the type mounted: on trucksand adapted. for. receiving and dispensing; in fiammable liquids, suchas; gasoline; or fuel1-' oil. More particularly itrelates-ito a lockingarrangee ment-whereby covers, even of large size; maybe the embodimentofFigure; 1: securely: held in: place over a manhole opening, Figure aisaan end elevationa'l view of theemafiordingz' a vapor tight closure, and:security b'odiment ofi igure; 1- asfviewed from the-left ofagainstiaccidenta'l opening. More specifically; it said figi1re;.relates to aelocking device of the character men- 0 Figure iris-tanend=elevaftionatview of the m+ ti'onediin whichalatch tends-normallyandautoib'odiment: of Figure 1 aszviewed' from the'rightof matically toassume-apositioninwhich-it holds said'fienre; the cover in place overthe manhole opening; and Figure 5 is a fragmentary; view similar to Figit: which: the latchmay be. brought manuallt into ure: 2, i, but onareduced seal-e5 andshows the 31130511710115 inpwhich it holds-thelatch". in a": re 1'5 parts astheyxappear while'being movedls'oas. totracted position, .ready however; when" released, openizthe' manholecover; v to: actautomatica-lly. Figure 6 isaview similartofFigure-fibut-show- While our invention has: been odeseribedain. its ing; theparts; in-:a further successive stage of application to trucktanksglitwilllbe-un-de'rstood opening thac'ovar; that, particularly as tocertain. phases? thereof, Figure 'l-is a fragmentary: view, similar toFigitmay have other applications; ure n Showing t p ts as t y: appear Wen Imclosures: of the character mentioned. great the cover is: free: to.move intoits= fully opened difficultyhas, beenexperienced;iniiobtaininggse' position; I g cure lockingandivaporetightwengagement'iof the Figure 8 isaViBWSiIIiiIaP-"IIOFigHIBQ; but'in' a covenwith its seat.Whileathe;known;construe reduced: scale; of a secondoembodi-ment ofourtions:functionsatisfactorilywhenzapplied tomane invention; j holes; of;small diameter (about sixzinchesa or Figure- 9 -ise a view similar-'toFiguret; but less)", such .is not the: case: where:la-rgen'diamshowing..themovenpartly opened eters=areain..questi0n.Sinceitdsmsaially: desired Figure 10- isa fragmentary-plan View of-ijtheth nth hm b of? asizealargezenouglnto embodiment of Figure 8;. with theparts: inathe admitia man mto'the. tank, forpurposesrofzinposition ofFigure-=9. V spection or repair; it will be readily;- understood Before:proceeding; to adetailed-description of that such knownconstructions-maybe stated our: inventiomwe will premisethat,itscompr-ises to berunsatisfactoryi generally a manhole:'construotionprovided with Itzvis; the general object1of ouninventio'n-to anopenin'g; a=cover,-for closingathe openingand provide. asimple;effective-and inexpensive:con aaframeiior carryingthe'cover; the framebeing struction in a. manhole cover andzclosunewmeans hin'ged ly'mounted onthe. tank and being yieldtherefor; that wil1haven0ne ofjthe-wdisadvanably: andqresili'ently; connected to the cover. 1 A tagesoftheiconstructions heretoforeknownand latch=is-carried=on the frame,andithislatch-is will pnovide a secure.vapor-proof:closureforman- 4Onormally: urgedinto/ lockingengagement'with a holes,- even;of large'ize. strike mounted in fixeda relation to; the'it'ank. Itis among themore particularnbjects (if-our A'ihand'le istpivotallynarriedbythezframa When invention. to provide, in a manhole'covenclosure; saidhandle is raised it retrac'ts the latch-rand alatching arrangement-that;when.-*lef-t fre'emvill the covencanbe Openedrwhile' a'b*'the'-'sametiine automatically move. into a .lockingrpositiori-g; and 4 5 a backlatch-or-triggerholds the' han'dle soithat further to.provide.manually;'oper ated.; means ,for .thetlatch rem'ainsvin itsretracted position opening such a closure,;to:provide:meansiforisetrwhernt'he covenis moved :into; its clo'singzpb: ting: the: automatic.latching. arrangemennwhe'nsitio'n: thesaid back-latch will :be eparatedauto ever." thercover: is.opened;,.and toeprovideameans m'atically? torelease the latch, which fliesz auto for: releasing the automatiolatching-atrange+ 5O maticallywinto-itslocking position 'and-llooks-thement whenever thehclosure isjm'ovedi intoits eover-in plaoe. Thehandle;which forms-an eleclosingv position. ment-of: ato gle-link system, at--the'same time Tozattain theseebje'cts andzsuch furthereobmovesinto-a'rdead cent-erposition;- v facts; as may. appear herein on behereinatter Two-iembodiments-of our invention'havabeen pointedsfoutn wemake reference-to-the aceom disclosed. In the first, the cover; t-,1. be

panyingl drawings, forming a pazr-thereof, in

which o Fig-ure'l is a; plan view of one embodiment of our invention;: i

Figure 2 is'a-lcngitudina-l sectional view through slammed into place'while closing, but it is opened by means of the handle. In the secondembodiment, the handle may be used to manually and gradually move thecover into its closed position and it is also opened manually.

V By way of illustration we have shown two embodiments of our invention.It Will, however, be understood that these embodiments are illustrativemerely and are only examples intended to explain the principles of ourinvention, without exhausting all of the possible variations and embodiments thereof.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, first of all to Figures 1 to'7, inclusive, in which the first embodiment of our invention isillustrated, it will be obserbed that we show a plate 25 mounted on aflanged rim 2|, extending upwardly from a tank and provided with aflange 22 on which the plate 25 seats. A gasket 23 is interposed betweenthe plate 20 and the flange 22 for the obvious purpose of providing avaportight closure.

The plate 20 may be secured in place in any suitable or preferred manneras by bolts 24. The plate is provided with an opening 25 through whichaccess may be had to the tank for filling or for entering the same forpurposes of inspection or repair as is well understood. A cover 26 isadapted to seat over the opening 25. A gasket 21 is shown interposedbetween the cover 26 and a seat 21a provided on the plate 20 andsurrounding the opening 25, and thereby a vapor-proof construction isprovided.

Pivotally mounted on the plate 20 is a frame 28. This frame comprisestwo laterally spaced bars 29 and 3|! connected at one end by a pin 3|and at their other ends by pin 32. A pin 33 is shown as passing throughlugs 34 and 35 projecting upwardly from the plate 20 and this pin passesthrough the ends 35 and 31. of the bars 29 and 30, whereby it will beobserved that the frame 28 may pivot about the said pin 33. Projectinglaterally from the bar 29 is a pair of lugs 38 and 39, and similar lugs49 and 4| are pro vided on the bar 30. Each of these lugs is providedwith an opening 42 through which extends a pin 43 having one end securedat a bottom of the pocket 44 provided in the cover 26. A coil spring 45is shown seated in each pocket 44 surrounding the pin 43 and serves tourge the cover 26 away from the frame 28. In order to maintain theconnection between the cover 26 and the frame 28, the upper end of eachpin 43 is shown as carrying a pair of nuts 46.

It will be observed that the cover 26 is shown as provided with fourpockets 44, each corresponding to and registering with one of the lugs38, 39, 4B and 4|, and thereby the cover 26 is hung from the frame 28 atfour symmetrically distributed points, and when the frame 28 is loweredinto the position shown in Figure 2, it will press the cover 25 securelyinto place through the action of spring 45.

Pivotally mounted on a pin 47 at the free end of the frame 28 is a latch48 provided with a pair of forked arms 49 between the outer ends ofwhich passes a pin 53 on which is mounted a roller which is adapted whenthe cover is in its closed position, to move underneath a strike 52 in aform of a hook having a nose or end portion 53, the inner surface ofwhich is provided with a guideway or cam surface 54, shown as curvedupwardly (see 55) so as to gradually guide the roller 5| into placeadjacent the bight portion of the hook.

A torsion spring 56 is shown as engaging the arms 49 with its bi-ghtportion 5'! and the pin 3| with its end portion 58, and it is sotensioned that it tends to drive the roller 5| away from the pin 3| andinto locking position within the hook 52. A lever 59 is pivotallymounted on the frame 28. The lever 59 is adapted to be grasped by thehand for a purpose that will be hereinafter explained.

Its pivot comprises a pair of spaced lug portions 59a at one endthereof, through which passes a pin 60 which is seated in the bars 29and 39 of the frame 28 and adjacent to the pin 33 about which said framepivots. A link 6| is shown pivoted at one end to a lug 62 projectingdownwardly from the lever 58 as shown at 63, at

an intermediate point thereof and pivoted at its other end to the latch48 as shown at 64. It will be understood that as the lever 59 is raised,by movement about the pivot, from its position in Figure 2, that thedead center position of the toggle formed by the lever 59 and the link6| with the pivot points 63 and 54, will be broken, and the latch 48will be moved against the resistance of torsion spring 56, toward theleft. The pivot point 63 ,is so positioned that adequate leverage isprovided to effect such movement of the latch against the resistance ofspring 56. It will be observed that because of the dead center positionof the toggle arrangement as shown in Figure 2 the latch is securelyheld in its lock position as long as the lever 59 is in its position asshown in Figure 2.

A back latch or trigger arrangement is provided for the purpose ofholding the lever in such a position that the latch is prevented frommoving into its locking position. This arrangement may comprise atrigger or back latch 65 pivotally mounted on the pin 33 between thelugs 38 and 31 of the frame 28.

The trigger is provided with two notches 65 and 61 within which isadapted to seat a roller 68 carried on a pin 69 mounted on a pair ofarms '13 projecting from the lever 59 at the pivoted portions thereof.Whenever the roller 68 seats in one of the notches 66 or 61 the lever 59is locked relatively to said frame. This locking is effected by a spring1| mounted on the pin 32 and so disposed and tensioned that it bearsdown on the trigger 65 so as to cause it to move downwardly as shown inFigure 2. The functioning of these parts will be better understood afterthe description of operation.

The trigger B5 is further provided with a nose portion 12 which servesto release or trip the trigger as will be more clear as the operation ofthe device is more fully understood.

The detailed description may be completed by mentioning a lug 13provided on the frame 28 and serving as a stop to maintain the cover insubstantially upright position when the cover is open, and by mention ofan arrangement 14 whereby the length of the link 6| may be adjusted-tosecure proper functioning of the device.

With the aid of the foregoing description of the parts of our latchingarrangement, its operation will be readily understood.

Beginning with the parts as shown in themsition of Figure 2, anattendant desiring to open the cover will grasp the lever 55 and willraise it into the position indicated in Figure 5.

The effects of this raising of the handle will be two-fold. First ofall, the link 6| will pull the latch 48 with its roller 5| toward theleft, thereby tensioning the spring 56 andthe roller "notch 66 willtravel along the urface 55 into the position "ShOV/ll in Figure 5. 'I'hesecond eife'ct will be a movement of the arms and the roller 558 out ofthe notch 6'! and into the notches 66 of the trigger 65, this beingenacted. because the trigger 65 always tends to niove downward about thepivot 3, owing to the action of the spring H.

A continued raising of the lever 59 will resu t in an emergence of theroller 5| from the hook shaped strike 52 and seating of the ron'e'rtsnto the notch es ofthe trigger '55. In this position theparts are lockedtogether and the spring '56 is held under tension and prevented reammoving the latch bythe action of tr ger 65, It will be observed that thepressure on the roller is so directed against the pin 33, and the'surfac'esof the are so disposed that the trigger cannot move. As aresult, therefore, of moving the lever '59 up, the frame 28 risesand oncontinued movement will pass through the pdsitionshovsfn in Figure '7and into a position in which the lugs 13 of the frame engage the plate20. This marks the limit full opening position of the cover. In order toclose the cover the attendant simply moves the entire cover structurewhile it is in its locked position of Figures 6 and 7 by giving it apush or slam in the appropriate direction so as to close the cover. Theeffect of this movement will be a passing 'of the cover structure fromthe position in Figure 7 into theposition of Fi'gure '6 in which thelugs 12 of the trigger 65 will strike the plate 24] and substantially atthe same time the roller 5| of the latch will engage the extreme end ofthe hook-shaped strike 52. The parts are so related that the roller 51will be caused to move slightly to the left as shown in Figure 6,thereby removing the effect of the tension of the spring 56 from thetrigger parts. The portion 12 of the trigger 65 will be held againstfurther downward movement while movement of the lever 59 will cause theroller 68 to move out of the notch 66. I g

The position of the parts just described may be seen in Figure '5. Asthe roller 68 moves out of the notch 66 it releases the lever '59 fromits locked position and the spring 56 is released and thereby snaps theroller 5| into its locked position as shown in Figure 2, drawing with itthe handle 59. The roller 68 in the meantime has seated itself in thenotch 6'! and the lever 59 and the link 6! are in the dead centerposition indicated in Figure 2. The function of the inclined cam surface54 on the strike 52 in gradually guiding the roller downward will bereadily understood. It efiects a gradual increase of the pressure on thecover 26 which becomes a maximum as the extreme right hand position ofthe roller 5|, as shown in Figure 2, is reached.

In order to secure proper functioning of the parts, it is important thatthe trigger 65 be suitably contoured and the link 61 be suitablyadjusted as to length.

It is to be observed that in the embodiment just described, it is notfeasible to close the cover gradually by slow manipulation of the lever59. This is because the spring 56, which must of necessity be ofsufiicient strength to secure the proper pressure on the cover, oiierstoo great resistance to such slow manual movement, since a limitedmovement of the roller 5! from the position shown in Figure 6 isnecessary in order to release the trigger 65. On the other hand, also,the end of the hook shaped strike 52 must extend to a suificientdistance to properly set the spring 56 on the upward or opening movementof the ever t 't openy set the spring 356 in preparation for itsautomatic movement when the cover is In FiguresB, 9 and 10 we have showna con- -stlllcti0i1 in which 3 gradual elds i'ng of the Cover may bereeted by man'ipl'l lati'ng the lever 59. In these figures, in order toavoid repetition, parts corresonding to similar parts or tne firstembodiment, have been designed by the same numerals. However, thesenumerals have been primed. The only constructional 'di'stinction betweenthis e bodiment and the era embodiinent is the provision of an archedportion so in the lever 59" so as to provide a space into which thefingers of a hand may be safely inserted without dan'ger of being"crushed by ad'- jacent parts. The strike '52 is further provided with asmall dog 8! pivoted at "82 to the nose portion of the strike 52. I, l IThe action of the dog s: will be understood from an inspection oiFigures 3 and 9, Starting with the position Figure 8, as the lever on israised the roller 5i will travel along the cam surface 55' until theposition of Figure 9 is reached in which the roller 5i engages the proisprevented from moving away from this position because its end 84] (innerend) is forced against the portion 85 of the strike T12 and thereby saidnose portion 83 offers the obstruction requisite to a proper setting ofthe spring 56".

Assuming now that the cover has been fully opened, the operator willgrasp the lever 59at its raised portion and will gradually movethe coverdown. I Asit will move 'do'wnthe 'rolle're'l" will strike the nose 33 bfthe dogfii but latter will offer no resistance. Instead, it will movedown therewith, and ofier only a very slight. resistance to the manualclosing of the cover. The

48' being released so that the roller 5i moves into the lockingengagement with the strike 52. I

It will be understood that we do not intend to limit ourselves to theexact combination of parts hereindisclosed and that these parts may becombined in other relations than those shown.

While we have herein disclosed two illustrative embodiments of ourinvention, it will be understood that the same may be embodied in manyother. forms as will be obvious to those skilled in the art, withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof, and that the disclosure herein is byway of illustration merely, and is not to be interpreted in a limitingsense, and that we do not limit ourselves other than as called for bythe language of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention and illustrated its use, what weclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. In a filling structure for truck tanks, having a base plate, a framepivotally mounted on said base plate, a strike carried by said baseplate, said strike being in the form of a hook having the inner surfaceof its end portion disposed substantially horizontally but graduallycurving upwardly at the tip, a latch therefor carried by said frame,including resilient yieldable means for maintaining said latch inengagement with the strike when the frame is moved down, a locking leverpivotally mounted adjacent one side of said frame, means interconnectingsaid latch and said locking lever and adapted when angled relatively tosaid frame, to move said latch out of engagement with the strike and totension said resilient means operative on said latch, trigger meansadjacent the other side of said frame for holding said locking lever insaid angled position in which said resilient means is tensioned, andmeans for tripping said trigger means and releasing the latch when saidframe is moved down so that the latch engages said strike.

2. In a filling structure for truck tanks, having a manhole and aclosure for said manhole latching means for holding said closure inplace over the manhole, said means comprising an arrangement forautomatically locking said closure in place over the manhole, whenreleased to fall by gravity into closing position, means on one side ofsaid closure for holding said arrangement in an unlatching position, andmeans on the opposite side of said closure for bringing said arrangementfrom its latching to its unlatching position, said means comprising atoggle link system adapted to assume a dead center position when saidlocking arrangement is in its locking position and said means furthercomprising a member for breaking said dead center.

3. In a filling structure for truck tanks, having a manhole and aclosure for said manhole means for holding said closure in place overthe manhole, said means comprising an arrangement for automaticallylocking said closure in place over the manhole, when released to fall bygravity into closing position, means on one side of said closure forholding said arrangement in an unlatching position, and means on theopposite side of said closure for bringing said arrangement from itslatching to its unlatching position, said means comprising a pivotedlever, connections between said lever and said locking means wherebywhen the lever is moved into a predetermined position said locking meanswill move into an unlatching position, and said holding means beingoperative to hold said lever in said predetermined position.

4. In a filling structure for truck tanks, having a manhole and aclosure for said manhole latching means for holding said closure inplace over the manhole, said means comprising an arrangement forautomatically locking said closure in place over the manhole, whenreleased, means on one side of said closure for holding said arrangementin an unlatching position, and means on the opposite side of saidclosure for bringing said arrangement from its latching to itsunlatching position, said means comprising a pivoted lever, connectionsbetween said lever and said locking means whereby when the lever ismoved into a predetermined position said locking means will move into anunlatching position, and said holding means being operative to hold saidlever in-said predetermined position, and means for releasing saidholding means and thereby said locking arrangement when said closure isbrought into place over the manhole.

5. In a manhole closure, having a cover, automatic latch thereforcomprising means for normally assuming a position in which it locks thecover in place, means on one side of said cover for moving said latchmeans into an inoperative position and setting it for automatic actionwhenever the cover is opened, and means on the opposite side of saidcover for releasing said lastnamed means whenever the cover is movedinto its closing position.

6. In a manhole closure having a cover, an automatic latch thereforcomprising in combination, means for causing said latch to assume aposition in which the latch locks the cover in place, means on one sideof said cover for moving said latch into an inoperative position andsetting the latch for automatic action whenever the cover is opened, andmeans operative when the cover engages the manhole wail for releasingsaid latch whenever the cover is moved into its closing position.

'7. In a filling structure for truck tanks, the combination comprising amanhole frame, a strike adjacent one side of said frame and a closurefor said frame pivotally mounted on said frame opposite to said strike,a strike engaging portion pivotally mounted upon said closure andmovable into latching position by resiliently yieldable means, means forwithdrawing said strike engaging portion from engagement with saidstrike upon movement opening said closure, and means for holding saidstrike engaging por-- tion in unlatching position, setting said latchautomatic action whenever the closure is moved to the open position,said means for holding said portion having an element disposed to engagea fixed part on said frame for releasing said strike engaging portionwhenever the closure is moved nto its closing position.

CARLYLE H. SCOTT. PAUL H. SCOTT.

